Street Fighter 6 won Best Fighting Game at The Game Awards 2023, sold over seven million copies and is still adding characters in its fourth year. It is also the game on this board with the busiest shop, so its checkout deserves the closest reading.
Three games in one box
Fighting Ground is the classic core: versus, training, arcade and ranked play. World Tour is a single-player story in which your own avatar learns from the cast while wandering Metro City. Battle Hub is an online lobby for up to a hundred players, with cabinets to challenge strangers and a room of emulated Capcom classics.
The new Drive Gauge ties attack and defence to one shared resource, which makes every round a series of readable decisions. Live commentary calls your matches like a broadcast.
The best on-ramp the genre has had
Three control schemes are the real breakthrough. Classic is the traditional six-button layout; Modern maps special moves to a single button, trading a little damage for accessibility; Dynamic is an assisted mode for casual play. Newcomers can hold their own online within an evening, and veterans lose nothing.
Rollback netcode and cross-platform play across PlayStation, Xbox, PC and Switch 2 keep matchmaking healthy. Critics rate it in the low nineties across platforms.
Where it stumbles
World Tour's writing is thin, and Capcom has said no new World Tour story content will follow Ingrid, the final Year 3 character. The PC version uses Denuvo and online play needs a free Capcom ID. After a March 2026 update the Steam version needed a hotfix for stability.
The shop is the bigger issue, covered in detail below: outfits are expensive, some items leave the store after a set period, and for years the coin packs did not match item prices, leaving leftovers. Capcom added smaller packs on 2 July 2026, which helps.
Who should buy it
Anyone curious about fighting games should start here. Buy the base game, play the eighteen launch characters plus the free training tools, and only add a character pass once you know who you want to main.
Plays well
- Modern controls make it genuinely welcoming
- Deep, fair, readable fighting
- Rollback netcode and cross-platform play
- Base game at £34.99 is a lot of game
Watch for
- Outfits and colours are expensive
- Limited-time shop items add pressure
- World Tour story will not grow
- Denuvo on PC; Capcom ID for online
Screenshots and key art: Capcom, from the official Steam store page. Shown for review.
The checkout: buying Street Fighter 6 in the UK
The base game is £34.99 at every UK store: Steam, the PlayStation Store (the purchase covers PS4 and PS5), the Microsoft Store for Xbox Series X|S and the Nintendo eShop for Switch 2. The Years 1-2 Fighters Edition is £49.99 and bundles the first two character passes, four stages, extra colours and 8,400 Drive Tickets. If you already know you want those eight characters, it saves £34.99 over buying the two passes separately at £24.99 each.
Each year has a Character Pass at £24.99 (four fighters plus Drive Tickets) and an Ultimate Pass at £39.99 that adds outfits and stages. Year 4 runs from June 2026 to spring 2027 and its characters arrive one at a time, so you pay up front for fighters that are months away.
| Store | Platform | Edition | Price | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Steam | PC | Standard | £34.99 | |
| Steam | PC | Years 1-2 Fighters Edition | £49.99 | |
| PlayStation Store | PS5 | Standard (PS4 + PS5) | £34.99 | |
| PlayStation Store | PS5 | Years 1-2 Fighters Edition | £49.99 | |
| Xbox and Microsoft Store | Xbox Series X|S | Standard | £34.99 | |
| Xbox and Microsoft Store | Xbox Series X|S | Years 1-2 Fighters Edition | £49.99 | |
| Nintendo eShop | Switch 2 | Standard (Switch 2) | £34.99 |
Extras and what they add
| Extra | What you get | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Year 3 Character Pass | Sagat, C. Viper, Alex and Ingrid, plus 3,000 Drive Tickets. | £24.99 |
| Year 4 Character Pass | Yasmine, Arjun, Tifa and Bosch (arriving to spring 2027), plus 3,000 Drive Tickets. | £24.99 |
| Year 1 or Year 2 Character Pass | Four characters each; already inside the Years 1-2 Fighters Edition. | £24.99 |
| Ultimate Pass (any year) | The Character Pass plus Outfits 2 and 3, stages and more Drive Tickets. £36.99 for Year 4 on the PlayStation Store. | £39.99 |
In-game spending
Fighter Coins are the paid currency. They buy single characters, outfits, stages and other shop items. On the UK PlayStation Store the packs are: 50 for £1.19, 60 for £1.69, 130 for £3.29, 250 for £3.99, 300 for £4.99, 350 for £5.79, 610 for £9.49, 1,250 for £18.99 and 2,750 for £39.99. The smaller packs arrived on 2 July 2026 so you can buy close to an item's exact price.
Outfit 3 for a single character costs 300 coins, so dressing the eighteen launch characters in it costs 5,400 coins, far more than the game itself. Drive Tickets are earned through play and challenges (and come with passes) and cannot be bought directly. Kudos are a reputation score, not a currency.
We found no paid randomised items anywhere in the game: every item is bought directly and you see what you get. Some items are only on sale for a limited time, which is the main pressure point to be aware of.
Subscriptions
Not in Xbox Game Pass, PC Game Pass or the PS Plus catalogues. On PlayStation, Xbox and Switch 2 you need the platform's online subscription to play online.
Paying at each store
| Method | Steam | PS Store | Xbox Store | Nintendo eShop |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Debit card | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Credit card | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| American Express | No | Yes | Some | No |
| PayPal | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Apple Pay | No | Yes | No | No |
| Google Pay | No | No | No | No |
| paysafecard | Yes | Yes | Some | No |
| Klarna / pay later | Yes | No | Some | No |
| Phone bill | No | Yes | Yes | No |
| Bank transfer | Yes | No | No | No |
| Store gift card | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
If you change your mind
| Store | Game refund rule | Money goes back to |
|---|---|---|
| Steam | 14 days, under 2 hours played | Card or PayPal, or Steam Wallet (your choice) |
| PlayStation Store | 14 days, if not downloaded | Original method where possible, else wallet |
| Xbox and Microsoft Store | Usually 14 days, little play | Original method; balance-paid back to balance |
| Nintendo eShop | No refunds once bought | Faulty or statutory cases: same method |
Fighter Coins bought through a console store follow that store's rules for in-game currency, which are much stricter than for games; check the store guide before buying a large pack.
Questions about Street Fighter 6
Can you buy an advantage in Street Fighter 6?
No. Characters can be bought, but every character is balanced for competitive play and the whole launch cast is in the base game. The spending is mostly on characters and cosmetics.
What is the cheapest way to get the extra characters?
If you want Years 1 and 2, the £49.99 Fighters Edition is cheaper than the base game plus two £24.99 passes. For Years 3 and 4, the £24.99 Character Pass is the cheaper route unless you want the outfits.
Does Street Fighter 6 sell random items?
We found no paid randomised items. Everything in the shop is sold directly, though some items are available only for a limited time.
Do I need a subscription to play online?
On PlayStation, Xbox and Switch 2, yes: PS Plus, Game Pass Essential (or higher) or Nintendo Switch Online. On PC, no.
Sources
Every price, date and policy above was checked against these pages on 25 September 2026.